ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • ShemarooMe to bring its rich content library to JioFiber subscribers

    ShemarooMe to bring its rich content library to JioFiber subscribers

    KOLKATA: ShemarooMe, the video streaming OTT platform from the house of Shemaroo Entertainment, has associated with Jio, India's leading digital service providers, to bring its content catalogue to JioFiber users through the JioTV+ app.

    JioFiber users will now have access to ShemarooMe's vast content library, including its premium content such as Bollywood Premiere, ShemarooMe Classics Filmy Gaane, Regional and much more through the Jio Set Top Box. The entire content catalogue will be integrated within the JioTV+ app. The ShemarooMe library can be accessed by all Jio subscribers including those on mobility services. Overall, Jio users can access over more than 3500 plus titles across different languages and genres such as Bollywood, Devotional, Regional, Comedy and Kids.

    Shemaroo has always been at the forefront of providing entertainment to its audiences and has ensured that its wide array of content offerings reaches the right set of viewers through unique partnerships. Shemaroo's association with leading service providers such as Jio will enable the company to provide content that appeals to a mass audience. With Jio’s extensive reach into not only urban but also the hinterlands of India, Shemaroo will now be able to cater to the growing Jio user base.

    Shemaroo Entertainment Limited CEO Hiren Gada said, "Shemaroo has always believed in offering the best of entertainment and our integration with Jio will strengthen this promise even further and help our content reach deeper markets. Jio is one of the leading digital services companies in India that enjoys a rapidly expanding user base and, together, we will be providing the best of family entertainment with premium quality standards to consumers across all platforms." 

  • MX Takatak onboards rapper Badshah

    MX Takatak onboards rapper Badshah

    KOLKATA: Studies show Indian millennials and Gen-Z consume video content far more than any other form of digital content on a daily basis and MX Player’s short-format video app – MX Takatak was launched to cater to this ever-growing segment of digital enthusiasts.

    The platform has witnessed tremendous growth, setting a new benchmark with its daily video views, growing from 0 to 1 billion+ only within a month of its existence and is home to the largest number of 1Mn+ digital influencers, who have chosen MX Takatak as their preferred platform of choice. Their community just got bigger with the addition of star Indian rapper and singer Badshah, who has also decided to join the MX Takatak family. 

    Read more stories on MX Player

    The ‘party anthem’ singer as termed by his fans, Badshah has delivered several chartbusters over the years and is lauded for his lyrics, slow rap and performing with Bollywood’s biggest celebrities. Speaking about this association, Badshah said, “Music and video are two very important aspects of what I do to bring a complete experience to the audience. My fans have always been top priority for me and MX Tatatak, I feel, allows me to directly reach out and interact with them even in the most remote corners of India. With all of us having limited movement/travel and with so much happening around the world, this is the best time to engage with fans by creating some fun, snackable content. I am looking forward to my short format video journey with MX Takatak”.

    MX Player CEO Karan Bedi elaborated saying, “We are proud and happy to welcome Badshah to the MX family. MX Takatak aims to provide the budding influencer talent pool a world class platform to showcase their art. And, who better than Badshah to inspire them to scale new heights like he has –  he’s innovative, creative and is an icon of pop culture in India today, which makes him the perfect fit to inspire our millions of content creators on MX Takatak as well as engage with his fans on our huge user base.”

    Read more stories on Karan Bedi

    MX TakaTak offers a wide variety of short-form content and creation tools like a well organised and exhaustive background music library, advanced beautification tools, new & innovative effects/filters, sound mixing, and voice over recording and much more to its digital superstars. Currently, it hosts digital influencers such as Gima Ashi, Ashika Bhatia, Rugees, Manjull Khattar, Khusi Punjaban, Mridul Madhlok and Ayush Yadav amongst others.

  • Disney+Hotstar taps 13 sponsors for IPL 2020

    Disney+Hotstar taps 13 sponsors for IPL 2020

    KOLKATA: Disney+Hotstar has bolstered its sponsorship portfolio for IPL 2020 with 13 sponsors. The brands which have onboarded for the largest cricket showbiz span across categories.

    The start-up unicorn Dream11 is the co-presenting sponsor and Boost is co-powered by sponsor. The 11 associate sponsors include Acko, Maruti Suzuki, KhataBook, Flipkart, Swiggy, Ace23, HDFC Bank, Great Learning, MX Player, Kingfisher Calendar and AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India).

    “Dream11 IPL 2020 will be a major catalyst for viewers and fans, who are longing to see their favourite stars back on the field. We have created avenues for interactive advertising innovations which enable brands to engage with their audience more effectively," Star and Disney India ad sales president Nitin Bawankule said.

    Read more news on Disney + Hotstar

    "This has resulted in interest and investment from prestigious brands across categories as varied as auto to e-commerce to banking. All of this, coupled with enormous interest from viewers and fans, makes us confident that this year’s Dream11 IPL will be a resounding success,” he added.

    Considerably, Disney+ Hotstar recently decided to take IPL matches behind paywall this year. It has struck deal with Jio and Airtel to boost the subscription too. Hence, the bold move will allow brands to reach high spender quality audiences.

    Read more news on IPL

    Earlier, the platform has also announced the addition of new features to the interactive Watch’N Play social feed. Replicating the exhilarating roar of the stadium, fans will be able to use an interactive emoji stream.

  • Epic On partners with Amazon Pay

    Epic On partners with Amazon Pay

    KOLKATA: IN10 Media Network’s OTT platform, Epic On– recently launched in an all-new and reimagined avatar – has partnered with Amazon Pay. Through this collaboration, Amazon Pay users can avail 20 per cent discount of up to Rs 100 on the annual membership of Epic On.  

    To avail this exclusive offer, users can select Amazon Pay as their mode of payment on EPIC ON’s payment page or directly access it from the Amazon Pay app. The offer is valid till 30 September.

    In sync with its new brand proposition Dekho| Suno |Khelo (Watch | Listen | Play), EPIC ON brings a wide range and magnitude of content, enabling users to Watch, Listen, Play, Read & Engage with multiform content on a single app!      

    Read more coverage on IN10 Media

    “With the new Epic On, we enter an exciting phase, bringing a diverse mix of multiform content across formats on one online platform,” Epic On COO Sourjya Mohanty said.

     “We are happy to partner with Amazon Pay to offer an exclusive proposition that’s designed keeping the user at the epicentre. With our dense content library, we are certain all those who consume content digitally and want convenience will find content of choice on Epic On,” Mohanty added.

    Read more coverage on Amazon Pay

    Commenting on the partnership, Amazon Pay India director Manesh Mahatme said “We are glad to partner with Epic On to allow Amazon customers to seamlessly pay for their subscriptions. This is one more step toward ubiquitous acceptance of Amazon Pay across online merchants.”

  • SonyLIV and Lionsgate sign IAMAI’s self regulation code

    SonyLIV and Lionsgate sign IAMAI’s self regulation code

    KOLKATA: The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) today announced SonyLIV and Lionsgate as the latest leading online curated content providers in India to sign the Universal Self-Regulation Code.

    The code has already garnered wide support from the industry and has onboarded 15 of the leading Online Curated Content Providers in India like ZEE5, Viacom 18, Disney Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, MX Player, Jio Cinema, Eros Now, Alt Balaji, Arre, HoiChoi, Hungama, Shemaroo, Discovery Plus, Flickstree.

    Read more coverage on self-regulation code 

    IAMAI digital entertainment committee chairman Tarun Katial said, “I am overwhelmed with the support received on the code and delighted to welcome SonyLIV and Lionsgate as the 16 and 17 leading OCC providers in India to sign the ‘Universal Self-Regulation Code’. We already have India’s leading OTT providers as the signatories and expect more players to join the initiative in the coming weeks.”

    Sony Pictures Networks India general counsel Ashok Nambissan said, “We are delighted to join the league of signatories of the Universal Self-Regulation Code. We look to working closely with the IAMAI and other OTT players to get broader acceptance for the Code as well as the Government’s support for the industry’s efforts at self-regulation.”

    Read more coverage on IAMAI

    The Code is effective from 15 August 2020 and allows OCCPs to comply with all the guidelines in a timebound manner. Each signatory to the code has agreed to appoint an external advisor as part of the grievance redressal mechanism within 60 days from the launch of the code i.e. 4 September 2020.

  • Netflix celebrates storytelling with its new campaign

    Netflix celebrates storytelling with its new campaign

    KOLKATA: The streaming giant Netflix has launched a new global campaign One Story Away. that focuses on the power of stories. The campaign running in 27 markets, which includes the Indian market also. The campaign is titled as Just a Story Away in the Indian market.

    Netflix in a statement, which appears to be the message of the campaign, says, “People have very different tastes and moods. But no matter who you are or where you are,  we’re all only just a story away from seeing, feeling and connecting more,”  

    While it is running across TV, radio, print, digital and out-of-home in some markets, the media mix is different in India. However, the Indian version of the campaign is running on digital platforms. 

    “Marketing, in general, would be about flat this year, which is still about $2 billion of spend, which is a tremendous amount of spend across our marketing channels. But it does look like it will be lower because of some of those things we're seeing in this kind of new world in terms of more virtual junkets and PR and actually not doing as much awards, marketing and those sorts of things. Now some of that is temporary in nature. Some of that is permanent learnings as to how we can be more effective going forward,” Netflix CFO Spencer Adam Neumann said in an earnings call earlier. 

    The Crown reminded us that all families are the same. Guilty told us about the good that can happen when you stop caring about what the world thinks of you and instead focus on what you believe in. 

    Sacred Games was a window into a world we knew so little of, and brought us closer to understanding some people’s need for power. We wanted to be a little bit more like Chris Hemsworth in Extraction and that probably motivated some of us to workout. The list is endless.

    This is the premise behind the new campaign.

    The streaming giant has been strategically spending its marketing dollars in India. They have always spent heavily to promote big launches such as Sacred Games, Ghoul, Selection Day and its subscription plans, especially the mobile only plan priced at Rs 199. The brand has extensively use outdoor media such as metro trains, hoardings and others to create a high recall for its lineup.

  • L&T tops the charts on following on LinkedIn

    L&T tops the charts on following on LinkedIn

    Larsen & Toubro, India’s leading EPC projects, manufacturing, defence and services conglomerate, has topped the LinkedIn in terms of most followed Indian conglomerate, leaving behind Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group and Adani Group.

    L&T with its 20 lakhs 5 thousand plus followers is the top most followed conglomerate, with Reliance Industries followed the second most at over 18 lakhs 98 thousand followers, over 15 lakhs 2 thousand followers for Aditya Birla Group, 4 lakh 83 thousand plus for Tata Group, over 3 lakh 41 thousand followers for Adani Group and over One lakh 58 thousand followers for Godrej Group, Linkedin data showed as on Sept 7, 2020.

    Larsen & Toubro spokesperson said: “We have grown this follower base through consistent and targeted messaging. The content strategy for a B2B conglomerate like L&T needs to be highly focused and different from a typical FMCG or a consumer products brand play book. We focussed on our strengths and leadership in our areas of business, while still maintaining approachability and creating engaging stories which impact people.”

    “We have realised that updates on big projects and achievements, and messages from our leadership consistently garner great response and engagement from the followers. Another message that resonates well with our audience is about Make in India achievement – a pride in building the things that help build the Nation, whether in infrastructure or technology and defence,” the spokesperson added.  

    The companies have been using this social media network to reach to professionals, students, potential employees to keep them updated about thoughts of their leadership, their achievements, milestones, HR initiatives, updates on campus recruitments etc. LinkedIn (90 per cent) is the top social media platform preferred by B2B marketers in 2019 followed by Facebook (77 per cent) and Twitter (63 per cent), data by Digital Marketing Community showed. While most of the working professionals are still working remotely, there is a huge spike in social media engagements on professional network LinkedIn. LinkedIn insights show that globally, there has been a 50% year-on-year growth in content sharing, between March-June 2020. While the job searches and career related posts are the most engaged content on the platform, professionals watched nearly 4x the amount of LinkedIn Learning content in June 2020 than they did a year ago.

    India has second largest LinkedIn user base at 68 million after United States that has close to 170 million users, July 2020 data by Statista showed. Globally, there are more than 706 million professionals across 200 countries who turn to the network to connect, learn, and plan for their careers. 

  • 65% millennials and Gen Z prefer OTT over TV, report says

    65% millennials and Gen Z prefer OTT over TV, report says

    KOLKATA: Urban India’s youth has relied on OTT platforms to kill monotony. Amid other options, the streaming services have emerged as the most popular source of entertainment as 70 per cent of the youth have turned towards OTT platforms in their spare time. Along with existing subscribers, new OTT subscription purchases during the lockdown period spiked throughout the country across demographics.

    According to a report from The Data Sciences Division of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India, 65 per cent of millennials (25-39 years) and Gen Z (5-25 years) prefer consuming video content on an OTT platform over TV. The younger the audience is, the habit of consuming OTT is higher. The report also shows that daily OTT content consumption among Gen Z is higher than millennials. 

    While before lockdown 95 per cent of the respondents used to consume only two-three hours of daily content, during lockdown on average each millennial has consumed 1.66 hours of additional content and GenZ is consuming two-three hours of additional content too.

    As a result of having more time at hand, binge-watching is becoming a prime trait of popular culture. While five per cent of the research universe has claimed to consume between six-twelve hours of daily content on OTT platforms in pre-pandemic period, currently 20 per cent of the sample is enjoying binge-watching. Millennials and Gen Z’ s purchased two and three additional OTT platform subscriptions respectively since the start of the lockdown. The average daily consumption hours have remained around four hours.

    The international platforms with expanding local content library are becoming popular choices. 60 per cent of the sample has a subscription to either Amazon Prime Video or Netflix. Disney+Hotstar also has been able to attract nearly 19 per cent of the urban youth. Homegrown platforms like ZEE5, Voot are creating a buzz gradually. Comedy, thriller and action-based entertainment were the top three preferences of GenZ audiences while millennials were more inclined towards consuming a lot more Sci-Fi over thrillers. Money Heist, Breaking Bad, Paatal Lok, Narcos, Riverdale, Friends were all the rage among the episodic content. 

    Another interesting trend that has come out of the study is that OTT based gaming has gained significant popularity during the lockdown period. While the curve of heavy gaming remained constant, casual gaming saw a steep increase in popularity. However, millennial audiences were significantly less likely to consume OTT based gaming when compared to their GenZ counterparts.

    OTT platforms have traditionally been more favoured by the young audience for the nature of the content it produces. Surprisingly, 11 per cent of the respondents criticised OTT platforms of imposing, glorifying and promoting “Content disgracing a religion or a caste”. These criticisms were accompanied by a majority (73 per cent) criticising the depiction of anti-national sentiment, foul language and bold as well as smutty content.  “Pop up Ads” were also criticised for harming the seamless viewing experience. Despite the growth of broadband across the country, connectivity issues are prevailing until now.

    The OTT industry is anticipated to grow 45.5 per cent during the forecast period 2019 to 2026. Along with the humongous growth, increased collaborations between OTT platforms and pay up TV, further hybridization and evolution of OTT monetization models could be more noticed going forward. India is expected to emerge as the second-largest OTT market with 500 million users by 2020 itself. 

  • Saregama strikes global licensing deal with ShareChat and Moj

    Saregama strikes global licensing deal with ShareChat and Moj

    KOLKATA: ShareChat announced a global licensing deal with Saregama, one of India’s largest music labels today that would allow for its users to create amazing new content and add to their social experience on the ShareChat and Moj platforms.

    As part of this deal, Saregama will license its large catalogue to both platforms allowing for the large community of ShareChat and Moj members to create their own short video content using the Saregama library. The robust music library offers thousands of songs in diverse Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Bhojpuri amongst many others.

    Saregama is India’s oldest music label and holds the richest catalogue spanning across genres like film or non- film songs, devotional music, ghazals and indipop in more than 18 languages.

    With this partnership, users would be able to use songs from legends likes Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Gulzar, Jagjit Singh, R.D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, Geeta Dutt and Laxmikant Pyarelal etc. making their experience on the platform more engaging and fun.

    Commenting on the partnership, Saregama India managing director Vikram Mehra said, “It’s great to partner with ShareChat for both their apps. Saregama has a very large library of Hindi and regional music which is just apt for a platform like this where users are so innovatively creating content using music.”

    Over 180 million active users across ShareChat and Moj would now be able to explore the Saregama music library.

    ShareChat director Berges Y Malu said, “Music is an integral part of Moj and as we build India’s youngest short video platform, we are incredibly excited to partner with Saregama to allow our community of users to create fresh new content alongside their favourite retro music from Saregama.”

  • MIPCOM 2020 goes completely digital with MIPCOM ONLINE+

    MIPCOM 2020 goes completely digital with MIPCOM ONLINE+

    KOLKATA: MIPCOM 2020 announces that the thirty-sixth annual international television content market will now take place entirely online as MIPCOM ONLINE+. The physical gathering, previously scheduled to take place as MIPCOM RENDEZVOUS CANNES, is cancelled due to the continued impact of Covid2019.

    MIPCOM ONLINE+ will be centered around the digital MIPCOM Week that occurs from October 12 to October 16 and will include extended features before and after the main event.

    MIPCOM Warm Up begins on 5 October and offers early access for participating delegates and exhibitors to make the most out of the MIPCOM digital marketplace by accessing Market Intelligence sessions, content and finance briefings and the MIPJunior Screenings platform, as well as the use of the MIPCOM Digital Hub to plan meetings for the MIPCOM Week.

    MIPCOM Week will be open from October 12 to October 16 as a global online interactive business market including a fully digital “Main Stage Cannes” conference and screenings programme involving global upfronts, keynotes, market screenings, MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards and much more. In addition, the Virtual Exhibit Hub and the enhanced database will allow users to set up highly targeted, video business meetings between distributors, producers, buyers and all international delegates.

    MIPCOM Follow Up+ runs from 17 October to 17 November and will offer replays of screenings, keynotes and conference sessions, from MIPCOM and MIPJunior. Delegates and exhibitors can continue to conduct business through the MIPCOM Online+ interactive database tools and Virtual Exhibit Hub as well as using the MIPJunior digital library.

    “Our motivation has always been to bring together the global entertainment community around the flagship week of MIPCOM in order to support content discovery and new business deals, whether online or in-person,” Reed MIDEM’s Television Division director  Laurine Garaude explains. 

    “We made clear when we announced MIPCOM RENDEZVOUS Cannes that we would only hold the physical market if conditions permitted. Due to the ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19 and recently increased travel restrictions, we believe that MIPCOM ONLINE+ is the most effective way to move forward and to gather the global television community around MIPCOM Week,” Garaude adds.

    The third season of CANNESERIES, the International TV Series Festival, will take place in Cannes from October 9-14 and virtually on its new platform CANNESERIES LIVE from October 7-21.